A stitch in time
by wunderwolfer
Summary: Fives years after the events of FFXIII Fang awakes from crystalisation and finds that her old comrades have changed, but it the transformation of one of her friends that really has her perplexed. Fanille with hints of future Flight. Contains Yuri and ignores the events of FFXIII-2. Rated T for bad language


Hi guys.

Here is my first Final Fantasy Fanfic. It's full of FFXIII silliness and a bit of a weird take of the goddess that if Oerba Yun Fang but I hope you enjoy it.

Warnings: Contains end-game SPOILERS and it has not been Beta'd so it's full of grammatical errors but if any registered Betas would like to take up the challenge I would internet love them so so much. Oh yeah, and it's Yuri; don't like, don't read.

I'd love to hear what you think so please R & R, good or bad criticisms I love them all but please don't flame me; I bruise so very easily.

P.S. I'm not even going to try to replicate Fang's accent (it would be a complete disaster) so you'll just have to imagine her sexy sultry aussie accent *swoon*.

Disclaimer: I own nut'in not even the Story Image, that belongs to the glorious Kenda-Oh on Deviant art (she let me use it, honest she did).

Enjoy.

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It was inconceivable. There was no possible way that Fang could be scared because Fang was never scared; concerned maybe, wary possibly but afraid, unlikely. She was a Yun for goodness sake, from a long line of proud and fearless warriors! She'd survived her l'Cie focus twice, twice!

Her heart was racing. She wiped her sweaty palms on her sari and swallowed hard to try to dislodge the lump that seemed stuck in her throat. Ok, perhaps she could admit to being concerned – very, very concerned. But then you would be concerned too if you were watching the horror that was unfolding in front of her.

When Fang was a young inexperienced huntress she once walked straight into a nest of behemoths she didn't even scream or even drop a sweat, but this...this situation was so strange, so abnormal it was shocking, it was scandalous.

Lighting Farron destroyer of the fal'Cie and saviour of cocoon was dancing.

If the light blush dressing her cheeks was anything to go by Lightning was slightly embarrassed and the movements weren't exactly fluid or graceful they were best described as regimental - direct, slightly awkward but rhythmic and timed perfectly with the loud music that was blaring through the small speakers. But it could not be denied or confused with any other movement, Lightning Farron was definitely dancing.

Fang mouth gaped open in shock her eyes widening as she watched Lightning bop across the area of the glade designated the party's dance floor and as distressing as the sight was Fang seemed to be unable to look away - mesmerised by the soldier's swaying hips. She was completely baffled by the soldier's transformation.

When Fang was crystallised almost five years ago Lightning had been a stoic, bad-tempered ice queen and the only emotion she seemed to be able to express and admittedly rather well, was anger. For her and Vanille in their crystal sleep it had felt like only a few weeks has passed since they had defeated the fal'Cie so she had been a little traumatised to wake up on his hill in Gran Pulse a few hours earlier to find Lightning looking down at her with a wide dazzling smile. At first all she saw was teeth plus Lightning and immediately jumped to the conclusion that the temperamental woman was snarling until the captain pulled her and Vanille into a tight bone-crushing hug. And after assuring a concerned Lightning they were unhurt and healthy and a few quick calls on her communicator later, here they were all her family celebrating their reunion in this glade on a hill above New Oerba. When Lightning told her they has been in stasis for years Fang had been able to prepare herself for the differences time had made on Sazh, Snow and Hope but Lightning's personality change had been so drastic and extreme (smiling, spontaneous, partying, dancing!) that Fang was having some trouble accepting the new improved captain.

Although Vanille didn't seem to be having any difficulty adapting to the new Lightning Fang thought as she watched her giggling lover being lead around the dance floor by the laughing pink-haired lady but then Vanille wasn't a Yun.

The soldier's metamorphosis just wasn't natural and there in lay the hunter's problem. Say the word nature to most people and they immediately think of words like wild, untameable, tempestuous, but to a Yun it is quite the opposite because to the clan nature is full of predictable probabilities.

As young Yuns followed and watched the elder's hunt they were instructed on the laws that all animals, insects, plants, humans were forced to follow; a series of unwritten rules that were governed by the others and the environment in which they inhabit. The elders described the world as a rich tapestry where the stitches vary in length, colour and width but they are constrained not only by the other stitches around them but by the weaves of the canvas they are tied too. Look up close and it's a chaotic mess of silk, stand back and it's a delicate interlacing pattern of colours. So when a Yun hunts they know that their prey's actions and reactions are a function of its innate character further complicated by factors such as its age, the season, the weather, the time of day, its last meal; the list appears endless, no-one said that the pattern wasn't intricate, but follow an animal or person long enough and learn its workings and its place on the tapestry and you can limit the possibilities and estimate the probabilities.

She wasn't saying she was a soothsayer with visions of the future but Fang took great comfort in knowing that there was a degree of predictability in life and this attributed to her laidback, jovial and self-assured attitude. The world could still amaze and surprise her and she found that most of the time she could bend to the most unusual situations. It was a kind of adaptability, but adaptability born of intuition, intuition born from an experience, it was no good being spontaneous if it was going to get you killed. Sure she could be rash and impulsive but it was part of her nature, it was only to be expected. She never employed a strategy that didn't have at least a fifty-one percent chance of success, once you factor in Lady Luck of course.

As a Yun predictability was familiar and soothing but as much as she liked the ability to anticipate what she really loved was to test herself and she was always hunting the exciting anomalies that intrigued her fickle interest. Enigmas like Lightning. That was why she trailed after Lightning in Palumpolum; in the very moment Fang met her Lightning disregarded the odds, dismissed the probabilities to defend her friends and face the Piscom alone. It was illogical, reckless and exhilarating and Fang wanted nothing more than to experience the bedlam Lightning was about to create. But as she spent more time with the solitary and aloof woman she realised that her character was determined by her experiences, she was just another angry overprotective woman resentful towards a world that took so much from her only to burden her with responsibilities that would have broken most young shoulders. It was a characteristic they two friends shared and understood in one another but unlike herself Lightning had been emotionally stunted and grim from being forced to grow up too early and if it hadn't been for Vanille and the orphanage it could have been Fang.

Just as Fang thought that her current situation couldn't get any worse the song reached its chorus and Serah sidled up next to her sister and the two of them starting merrily singing. The dancing was bad enough but singing! She groaned miserably bending over in her seat with her arms around her stomach. She felt like her world had been turned upside down and the new axis was making her feel nauseated.

A low chuckling broke her from current malady and she looked up to find an amused Sazh looking down at her. Sitting down on the ground beside her he handed Fang a beer and she gratefully took a few large gulps of the cold liquid that lubricated her dry throat and gave her a few moments to compose herself. At least some things were still familiar, his beard may be beginning to grey and his eyes had more laughter lines as he smiled as her but Sazh was still the benevolent and fatherly figure she remembered.

"It's quite amazing isn't it," he agreed correctly deducing the reason for Fang's discomfort as he nodded towards their cheerful ex-leader.

She choked at the inadequacy of the word, "Amazing!" Fang spluttered wiping beer from her mouth. "It's bloody miraculous."

"Yeah," he laughed rubbing the back of his head thoughtfully, "it's been so long sometimes I forget what Lightning was like when we were l'Cie." He watched the woman in question laugh as she twirled Vanille under her arm and when he turned back to Fang his eyes had softened with a fondness he had never expressed towards the Lightning during their adventure.

Five years. It's a long time, not as long as their last nap but long enough for anything to happen. "So, who or what do I have to thank for turned the ice princess into a dancing queen?" she inquired. "Has one of you been slipping happy pills in her morning coffee?" she joked trying to mask how eager she was to find out more about the soldier's transformation.

He snorted, "nothing quite so extreme but I have to admit I was tempted quite a few time. After we lost you both she became a nightmare to be around and let's just say it wasn't just Snow's jaw that bore the brunt of it," he explained and Fang pouted sympathetically as he rubbed his chin soothing the painful memory of Lightning's powerful punch. "You know she blamed herself for what happened."

"That's stupid...," Fang shook her head reproachfully at the woman's self condemnation for the group's decision.

"You have to understand it wasn't like when she lost Serah," he reasoned. "This time there was no-one to fight, no one to blame, no focus, we didn't even know where you guys were. She spent all of her free time trying to find a way to free you and as it became clear to the rest of us that it was impossible she just became bitter and hostile. She basically ostracised herself from everyone, even her sister. And when she finally gave up hope it was much worse because she didn't get angry anymore she didn't do much of anything." He sighed in exasperation as if reliving the memories he was describing. "But that all changed when Lucy came along," he smiled warmly at the mention of the stranger's name, "she changed everything, for all of us."

Lightning was in love. Fang felt the words like a punch to the gut and she didn't really know why discovering that Lightning had a partner made her feel so unhappy. It was the last thing that Fang had expected and she wondered why she hadn't considered such an obvious explanation for Lightning's reformation. During their focus Fang had spent so much time talking, teasing, sparring and arguing with the captain, doing anything she could think of to break Lightning's stoicism. Fang knew how to handle people and probably understood the woman better than anyone, at their core they were so alike and she thought that if anyone could help Lightning it was her. Lightning's temper did improve during their journey due in part to her efforts, but there was always some sadness that removed her from the rest of them and they only really saw hints of the woman's true character. But then some stranger just waltzes into Lightning's life one day and does the unexpected, probably without even trying or with any knowledge of the significance she performs the impossible and makes Lightning happy.

"So I understand she's got herself a lady love," she said brightly with fake smile - nice and large to hide her disappointment. "Well that's great news."

Sazh frowned and quickly looked around them leaning towards her conspiratorially. Interested Fang discreetly leaned towards him ready to hear some juicy secrets. "Who has?" He gasped quietly.

"Am I speaking a different language or something?" she wondered aloud rubbing at her forehead irritably. "Who have we just been talking about Sazh? Have you gone senile or something?"

"Heeeey," he pouted angrily. He was still sensitive about his age , "Let's not get into a debate about who's the eldest here Grandma."

"Lightning, Lightning and Lucy," she explained quickly before they entered into an argument, secretly resenting how well the two names sounded together, "Lightning and Lucy...the lovebirds.

After a momentary pause Sazh snorted, then chuckled, then laughed brazenly and loudly at the confused Fang. "Lucy isn't Lightning's girlfriend," he explained wiping a tear of laughter from his eye.

"She isn't?" Now Fang was really confused.

"No. She's her niece."

"Her niece?" She repeated hating how small her voice sounded and startled that the news made her feel like crying.

"Lucy Fang Vanille Villers," he confirmed gently.

Fang felt her world shift again and suddenly she was overcome by a multitude of conflicting emotions. Fang was a proud woman. She had so many questions but she couldn't trust herself to ask them without bursting into tears and so as she tried to compose herself the two friends sat in silence watching their friends cheer and laugh as Lightning's freestyled the robot in the middle of the dance floor.

A drunk, jovial Hope interrupted their companionable silence as he stumbled backwards from the dance floor and almost tripped over Fang's long legs that were stretched out in front of her. Obviously disorientated he righted himself without looking at the two seated friends and began wandering off in the wrong direction. "Better stop our boy before he finds the last of the alcohol," Sazh sighed standing up from the floor with a tired grunt. Before he left he gave Fang's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "I'm glad Lightning was right." He smiled earnestly and left Fang to her contemplations as he followed after their intoxicated friend.

It was yet another reminder of all those moments she had missed while they had slept; Serah and Snow's wedding, Hope growing up and going to college, and now the birth of a new family member. Perhaps they had missed too many moments to be relevant in their family's lives.

This homecoming hurt more than she had expected but it was nowhere near as painful as the first. Devastated was a weak description of how she felt when they entered Oerba and found a literal ghost town full of monsters and desperate ghouls, a never-ending stream of failed l'Cie roaming the streets of their home that should have died a long time a go along with the rest of the population. The war must have become an unbearable horror to move so many of her people to rashly to follow her example. Whether it was for glory or love it didn't matter they just wanted to protect their homeland and whatever they cherished the most just like Fang.

She couldn't help but feel responsible. If she had been a better Yun she could have anticipated the future more effectively and she would have never become l'Cie. It was a rash decision feed by fear of losing Vanille and revenge for her clan. She always had to be extravagant and theatrical about everything, she could have protected Vanille without the fal'Cie and perhaps with another warrior in the city she could have helped to lead the people to safety.

It nearly broke her to see her home so desolate and full of death but Fang had Lady Luck on her side because she had given her Vanille. If Vanille hadn't been there to calm her there is no telling what she may have done, Ragnarok would have been the very least of their worries. Her red-head always knew exactly what to say to encourage hope and if Fang was honest Vanille had always been the strong one. She chuckled as Vanille hopped and span around Lightning who appeared slightly bewildered by the young woman's energetic dance moves.

Fang looked past her friends and gazed down at the distant New Oerba. She had played on this hill as a child and as a woman she had often used it to return from the hunt. Over five hundred years it had changed considerably; the pattern of lights was different than in childhood memories and not only had the city been rebuilt but it had become larger as they built further into the surrounding country they had to, Hope had told her, to house their growing population. She smiled to herself Oerba was full of life again and new life, technically a new Pulsian generation and in that city at the bottom of the hill was a new addition to their family that she and, she could confidently predict Vanille couldn't wait to meet. That was something she could finally be proud to be partly responsible for.

Fang looked around at her old comrades: Hope, now a tall young man towered over the pilot his hands waving around animatedly as he spoke, a familiar mannerism he had carried into adulthood. Bemused Sazh, held onto the younger man's shoulders keeping the unsteady man upright as he laughed indulgently at Hope's drunkenness. Snow, larger round the belly than she remembered danced with his wife a dopey grin on his face and his large arms enclosing her as she leaned on his chest her eyes closed, smiling happily they danced slowly in defiance of the song's fast tempo.

She had missed so many of their important moments but at least they were still here and she was lucky to be reunited with them in such a short time. And who could resent moments that had resulted in something so beautiful and breathtaking as Lightning's smile.

She smiled back at Lightning as Vanille, her constant, her soulmate, dragged her to feet and towards the dancing Lightning. Her lover's words of wisdom resonated in her ears,

"_Everything's different, but it's still home." _

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I think this works as a one-shot but I was thinking of continuing the story, setting it one year later and focussing on Fang and Lightning. But then I have a lot of stories in the pipeline so unless I get a lot of response (reviews, PMs and updates) I'll probably leave it as a one-shot. it'll also turn into a Flight story, sorry Fanille fans you have been warned and I love you guys too.

As always, even if it stays a one-shot, I'm treating this as a work-in-progress and I'm very open to suggestions for improvements. I absolutely love reviews and PMs and I always respond so don't be shy, people tell me I'm awfully nice.

So what do you think? Good, Bad? Should be torn up, burned, its ashes locked in a box and buried so no-one can find it and have the misfortune of reading it again? Let me know.

**Author update:** Didn't get very much interest in this story so it'll probably stay a one-shot but thank you to everyone who fav'd and followed the story, I internet love you guys! Oh and thanks to hubble36 who pointed out that I spelt Sazh wrong. I always spell at least one character name wrong.


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